Yamaha HPH-MT220
I decided to start this review on another thread because out of all of the headphones I have researched, this one had the least reviews and impressions. For the price, it is a worthy competitor and I am very satisfied with the headphone. Hopefully it will prove somewhat useful. Soon will be a comparison to the Sony MDR 7520.
Tangibles/Design
Accessories
No case, or pouch, simple box but comes with a WAVELAB LE
7 audio editing software CD.
Aesthetics
It has a minimalist/industrial look to them with brushed aluminum around the driver housing and look nice with my iMac. They will definitely turn heads in public. The long chord however may keep you from taking them out much. The coiled cord is not detachable and is terminated in an 1/8 inch jack with a heavy duty sterling silver (most heavy duty I have seen) screw on 1/4 inch adapter that wont work well with other headphones because it's socket is too deep for the standard 1/8 inch jack to fit on. The cord goes into the 1/8 inch side with a spring protector.
Build
It is too early to comment on durability but they do appear to be average here. Nothing like a sennheiser hd650 or German Maestro....just average. I need to look into the leather/non leather parts to see what they are, I will say synthetic leather because its not advertised otherwise. The cups swivel up and down. The headset is pretty light with mostly plastic parts, and a metal headband slider. The headband is soft and padded with a metal band and click as you slide to adjust the size for a fit.
The pads are memory foam, shallow, and
easily removable or rollable!!!
45mm drivers.
Comfort
Very comfortable. I am bald so the thin but soft headband cushion is sufficient. The earpads are soft but a little shallow. My ears fit inside of the cups though they do touch the felt that is covering the driver. The cups feel a little loose at times because of the rotating feature and I do prefer a more snug fit personally. The clamp is decent though. They are pretty light and a non-fatiguing wear.
Sound
Bass
It seems as though I am having a brain fart with this headphone. I can say that it is
NOT lacking bass. I read that the bass sounded anemic at first to another person that reviewed these but that is not what I hear at all. Maybe the song they played had no bass at first.These are not for the person that prefers bass light headphones. You will hear the bass right away. I can tell you that some people will say the bass is too much for them. I forgot I had the bass boosted on an EQ I was using for another headphone and before removing the EQ all I could think was "Whoa they have too much bass". Thankfully, they don't have too much bass. I would say they have the right amount of bass for a professional using them to mix
modern hip hop, soul, electronic music etc. After it dawned on me and I took the eq off I determined the bass to be north of neutral but not overdone. It also reaches deep enough to satisfy anyone. The bass has great texture as well, while remaining pretty tight and detailed. I can hear how each note starts and finishes. I can't really hear any bloating and while the bass is pounding I don't hear other instruments cutting off, though they don't remain perfectly intact , they are not too overpowered like a lot of other headphones. After performing the bass test I found that the bass is strong at 20,30,40hz (sub bass) without too much midbass emphasis but good sub bass performance and decent sub bass quality.
Midrange
The mids don't seem to be recessed or forward. I don't know if I would say these are for the mid centric head but the mids would satisfy them for sure. They are quite accurate. On some songs I thought they were slightly recessed and I mean slightly, on others they sounded not even close to recessed. I attribute this to them being accurate of the mix and what is actually going on. After continually listening I have found them to be certainly revealing of the mix. Some songs i didn't like the mids and others I really did. Mids used to be my favorite part of a headphone until I tried every mid centric headphone I could get my hand on. These headphones would have satisfied me in my previous search. I now prefer a more neutral sound and these scratch that itch without them being dry or lifeless. Right now as I am listening I am hearing these aren't the last word in transparency. The clarity issues I thought I was hearing was the recording itself. I think the mids could be a little more transparent, with better timbre.
Treble
The treble is clean and not recessed either. The cymbals are sharp and the s's are razor sharp. These do not sound too bright to me even after listening to the lcd 2 exclusively for a bit. They do sound brighter than neutral but seem not too bright but more balanced than the common mid centric headphones with rolled off treble, like the momentum, or hd650. I would trust a mix on these for sure. The only thing here for me is that my ears haven't really heard bright headphones in a while. I can say that with the detail that these have in the highs, the treble is not lacking here. They are also less sibilant than the He400, though the detail perception is not comparable to the he-400's open sound, perception being the key word because they are just as detailed.
Soundstage
Pretty decent for a closed headphone. I prefer it to a lot of other closed ones I have had. It is in between the k550 and the momentum. That is not saying a lot because I pretty much picked the extremes of closed headphones. Less expansive than the Beyer COP. A very cohesive presentation that doesn't seem clustered. The width and depth seem pretty good without sounding distant but it definitely sounds closed...wait...it is closed.
Instrument seperation
I can focus on an instrument and they don't blend together on this headphone. They have their distinct places and remain musical all the while.
Details
Great, I can hear when everything cuts off and stops, where the reverb stops, and the instruments to blend together. These are not too dry and not too wet. Fairly fast headphone with a good harmonics. Voices are easy to tell apart. Low level noises are heard fairly well. Nothing amazing but very competitive in this regards, and can easily be called a detailed headphone.
Attack
The drums are smacking and the transients or leading edges of the instruments vindicate themselves well. Some may argue with me here but I can't imagine
any modded T50rp smacking and punching as tight as this. This is definitely the strong point of these headphones. The instruments have great weight and speed, cutting through the mix fast.
Performance
Isolation is decent.
Sound leakage is above average(or leaks less than average) but I can't hear surounding noises that much at all. They don't need much power but definitely need a DAC and a decent amp to appreciate what they can do as far as being able to hear details etc. They do sound loud enough from an iPod and make a great portable headphone.
They don't distort easily at high volumes and can keep their composure. There is a little vibrating of the housing when the bass hits at times but this is tolerable.
Sometimes I hear distortion and other times I don't and I am determining this to be the recording itself.
Overall
Not too dark,not really bright. The bass is a little north of neutral, yet behaves as the recording tells it to. Good soundstage for a closed headphone with strong bass and in general a balanced and neutral frequency range with good extension from top to bottom. They don't seem to overgloss imperfections but the imperfections it reveals don't ruin the experience. You can use these to study a song as well as enjoy your music. They lean more toward the musical side than the analytical to me because they have the attack and PRAT needed to make them an exciting listen. I also read that there is too much resolution on these for the highs and mids to be pleasant... and that they ruined certain songs. I find them quite pleasing without being too be harsh...that is IMO though. These are VERY TRUE to the recording and are worthy of the "professional use" moniker. The praise of this headphone definitely goes to the tuning. Those tune forks on the side of the cups don't mislead. YAMAHA knows what they are doing.
For 249.00 I don't see anyone complaining about these.
vs sony mdr 7520 CLICK BELOW
http://www.head-fi.org/t/682534/sony-mdr-7520/270#post_10018304
Impressions might change but this is what I hear for now. I will continue to change the review accordingly and add to it.
